Chris Woakes has emerged as one of the best all-rounders in the county game but, despite being named in many England squads, has yet to go on and cement a place in the international side in any format. While most of his England chances have come in limited-overs matches, the suspicion remains that his bowling, in particular, is more suited to red ball cricket.

The statistics would appear to back that theory up and it was in a first-class match that Woakes made his Warwickshire debut, against West Indies A in 2006. Two seasons later, mainly through an ability to swing the ball both ways, he topped the county's bowling averages with 45 wickets at 20.48 and was soon being talked about as someone with the ability to push onto international cricket. The selectors were clearly taking note, not least of his low-maintenance character and unflappable temperament, because he was named in England's 30-man preliminary squad for the World Twenty20 and the MCC team to take on Durham at the start of the 2009 season.

That summer he claimed 47 wickets at 33.53 and scored his maiden first-class century with 131 not out against Hampshire. He bettered that wickets tally a year later with 58 scalps at just 21.48 and was selected on the England Lions tour of West Indies. Woakes performed well, with 13 wickets at 25.69 and by January 2011, was deemed ready to take the next step and made his international debut in a Twenty20 in Adelaide. He kept his cool to hit the winning runs in a thrilling one-wicket victory and later in the tour took 6 for 45 in an ODI at Brisbane. He played the following ODI in Sydney but 0 for 73 was a precursor of expensive spells to come.

Back in Britain, Woakes enjoyed another superb summer in first-class cricket with 56 wickets at 21.78 and 579 runs at 48.25 but it was with the white ball that he won another chance for England, playing the one-off ODI in Dublin. He was then made to wait another year for his next game for England.
In 2012, Woakes's season was delayed by an ankle ligament injury that saw him miss the first six weeks. On his return, he impressed the England selectors with 14 wickets at 22.42 in the Clydesdale Bank 40 and earned a call-up for England's ODI squad to play South Africa. Woakes was selected in the opening abandonment and the final rubber, where he bowled six overs taking 0 for 35.

He toured India after Christmas, again playing two of the five matches. A battering in the second ODI preceded a more respectable 1 for 45 in the fifth match. Woakes then played all three ODIs in New Zealand, proving expensive despite six wickets, as popular opinion began to turn against him. The doubters were proved right as Woakes bowled 13 wicketless overs across the first two fixtures in the return series at home against New Zealand, conceding 94 runs. He held on to his place in the squad for England's Champions Trophy campaign but didn't appear in any of the four matches.

He made his Test debut later that summer, bowling tidily enough on a flat pitch and showing some skill with the bat as England chased a target, but it was felt he lacked the bite to prosper in such conditions and he was omitted from the Ashes touring squad. He instead made a fine impression as captain of the England Lions tour of Sri Lanka and won a late recall to the World T20 squad in Bangladesh.

Deemed to have added the requisite pace to his bowling, he replaced Ben Stokes and played three Tests in succession against India in the summer of 2014. While he bowled without luck, he demonstrated the skill and control to suggest he will remain part of the England selectors' plans for the foreseeable future. His progress was delayed, however, by a series of injuries in 2015 and, with Stokes largely replacing him in the England sides, he lost his central contract at the end of the year.
George Dobell